


Date Night

by RainbowArches



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-23
Updated: 2015-11-23
Packaged: 2018-05-03 00:46:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5270219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowArches/pseuds/RainbowArches
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They're not allowed to have nice nights out. It just doesn't work. But they make do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Date Night

Once upon a time, date night went smoothly, but Melinda couldn’t remember when that was. Tonight she was wringing lake water out of her hair and shaking sludge out of her shoes.

They were supposed to have dinner. She was going to propose. She’d found a dress she actually _wanted_ to wear, specifically for the occasion. She’d never be able to wear it again now.

“I’ll get dinner started.” Andrew didn’t sound nearly so pissed. He was probably still pleased with himself for catching one of the bad guys. Coulson told her what had happened. The guy had been running in Andrew’s direction. Andrew stuck his foot out and tripped him, and then tied his hands with his tie the way Melinda had showed him. He would never brag but it was a proud moment for him. It was a proud moment for her, too. She’d tried teaching him self-defence. He didn’t even want to hit the punching bag. Nice to know _something_ stuck.

She’d congratulate him after her shower, though. She wanted to spend at least fifteen minutes in the hot water, letting it wash the sweat and lake smell and the bust of an evening off her.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in a clean fluffy bath robe, hair dried for the first time in hours, she heard sizzling coming from the kitchen, and she cheered up a little at the smell of fried food.

“We didn’t have much, so its grilled cheese, bacon, and French fries, and I cut up the last tomato. I’ll go shopping tomorrow.”

“Mmm, comfort food,” said Melinda, sitting down. “Sounds perfect.”

Andrew turned the stove off, piled everything onto two plates and carried them to the table, passing Melinda hers before sitting down. Normally they would at least set the forks out, even though it was finger food, but they didn’t bother doing even that much tonight. They were tired. If there were dishes they could avoid doing, they would.

Melinda’s grilled cheese sandwich had been cut into triangles so that it could be stacked to make room for more fries. She picked up one of the triangles and crammed half of it into her mouth. It was a far cry from the fancy dinner they had initially planned, but it was just what Melinda needed after the night she’d had.

“I’m sorry this stuff keeps happening,” said Andrew.

“ _You’re_ sorry?” Melinda said once she’d swallowed. “Why? It’s not like these are your patients who keep crashing our dates.”

“No. I mean I’m sorry SHIELD can’t give you one night off.”

“Oh. Yeah, me too.”

It was like there was a conspiracy against them. If they wanted to go out to dinner, to a play, the beach, a game, a cousin’s wedding, SHIELD would call her in because something came up unexpectedly and it just couldn’t get done without her. She was being stalked, she was sure. They couldn’t even make it inside the movie theatre before she got called away. Andrew was always very gracious about it because he was annoyingly perfect that way, but Melinda stopped being a good sport about it a long time ago. Once the mission was done she was cranky and overtired, and she’d lost track how many times she’d ranted to Andrew that she was going to quit SHIELD. He let her, fed her whatever she wanted, let her pick the channel, and looked only _slightly_ amused at her huffing and scowling.

“I’ll see what I can do about keeping our reservation. We didn’t even get to order. I’m sure I can work something out.”

Melinda shrugged, shoving a few fries into her mouth. “You can if you want, but I’m not upset about dinner.”

“What are you upset about?”

Melinda studied him for a moment, debating how she wanted to answer that question. She could go with the usual, about SHIELD not giving her a break, about wanting just one nice night away with him, about how she’d quit if that’s what it took. But he knew all that already. He wouldn’t ask what the problem was if he knew what the problem was, because it would be the usual stuff and she’d have told him by now.

She sighed. “This isn’t how I planned to do this, but…” She reached into her purse, which she’d dropped on the floor when they first came in, and pulled out a blue velvet box. She opened it to reveal the matching rings inside and set in front of him. “Will you marry me?”

Andrew didn’t answer right away but the smile spreading quickly across his face was a good sign. He cupped the box in his hands, tracing the lid with his thumbs. Eventually he tore his gaze away from the rings long enough to look at Melinda and say, “Yes. Of course I’ll marry you.”

She grinned. Then she laughed, out of relief or joy or shock of the best outcome of a crappy evening she didn’t know. She assumed she’d be able to not make a fuss about it, but she’d overestimated herself. She stood up and moved to sit on his lap and kiss him. They stopped long enough to exchange rings and then they were kissing again.

“You realise we may have to drop off the grid just to get through the ceremony uninterrupted,” Andrew said, when they’re excitement had settled.

“If that’s what it takes. You pick the date, and that’s when we’ll get married, even if we have to take the minister on the mission with us.”

 

Date nights had _never_ gone smoothly. When they first started dating, Melinda had just graduated from the Academy, so she was free as a bird (not really, but she was so relaxed and cheerful you’d think she was free as a bird), but Andrew was still in college and working in customer service to keep debt at bay and looking after his little sister when work called their parents out of town. Date nights were nonexistent. Melinda stayed at his apartment and helped him study, helped his sister with her homework, cooked what she could (toast, soup from a can, fish sticks). She reassured him when he stressed himself out and was patient when he became irritable.

Not long after that date nights moved to her place. They still weren’t really date nights. He kept supper warm for when she came home from work, had her favorite wine on hand for particularly bad days and listened patiently when she needed to vent, which was most nights. He comforted her through her parents’ divorce. He didn’t get offended when she wanted to be alone. She got sent on more and more missions and he was there to nurse her through more injuries or just be there to greet her, whatever she needed. They never had time to date, and when they found time, something would find a way to ruin it. But date nights were never that important to them anyway.


End file.
